Google Play Store — Official Specs & Guidelines

All data from support.google.com and developer.android.com as of March 2026.

Character Limits

Field	Limit	Indexed?	Notes
App Title	30 chars	Yes (strongest signal)	Reduced from 50 in Sept 2021
Short Description	80 chars	Yes	Visible without expanding
Full Description	4,000 chars	Yes (heavily)	Google NLP indexes entire text
Developer Name	64 chars	Partial	Same emoji/caps restrictions as title

Prohibited in Metadata (enforced since Sept 2021)

Title, Icon, Developer Name:

Emojis, emoticons, repeated special characters
ALL CAPS (unless registered brand)
Performance claims: "top," "best," "#1," "free," "no ads"
Misleading store performance or endorsement
Calls-to-action: "update now," "download now"

Short Description:

Same performance claims as title
Calls-to-action
Unattributed testimonials

Screenshots, Feature Graphic, Video:

Time-sensitive taglines
Calls-to-action ("Download now," "Play now")
Must authentically showcase app functionality

Screenshot Specs

Device	Min	Max	Aspect Ratio	Min Resolution	Max Long Edge
Phone	2	8	9:16 or 16:9	320px any side	3,840px
7" Tablet	4	8	9:16 or 16:9	1,080px short	7,680px
10" Tablet	4	8	9:16 or 16:9	1,080px short	7,680px
Chromebook	4	8	9:16 or 16:9	1,080px short	7,680px
Wear OS	1	8	1:1	384x384	3,840px
Android TV	1	8	16:9	1,920x1,080	3,840px

Recommended phone size: 1080x1920 (portrait)
Format: JPEG or 24-bit PNG (no alpha)
Max file size: 8 MB each

Note: Google Play max is 8 screenshots per device, not 10 like Apple.

Feature Graphic

Dimensions: 1024 x 500 px (exact, required)
Format: JPEG or 24-bit PNG (no alpha)
Displayed at top of listing and in featured placements

App Icon

Dimensions: 512 x 512 px
Format: 32-bit PNG (with alpha)
Max file size: 1,024 KB
Shape: Full square (Google applies 30% corner radius automatically)
Prohibited: Ranking claims, download counts, deal text, emoji

Preview Video

Format: YouTube URL (public or unlisted)
Duration: 30 seconds to 2 minutes recommended
No ads, no monetization, must be embeddable, not age-restricted
Does NOT autoplay (only ~6% of visitors tap to play)

Store Listing Experiments (A/B Testing)

Variants: Up to 3 per experiment (plus control)
Testable: Icon, feature graphic, screenshots, video, short description, full description
Concurrent: Cannot run more than 1 default graphics experiment simultaneously
Audience: Signed-in Google Play users only
Metrics: First-time installers + retained first-time installers (1-day retention)
Duration: Run at least 7 days (weekday/weekend variance)
Localized: Test across up to 5 languages simultaneously

Custom Store Listings

Max: 50 per app (100 for Play partners)
Customizable: Title, short/full description, icon, screenshots, feature graphic, video
Targeting: Country/region, pre-registration, install state, Google Ads campaigns, inactive/churned users (28+ days)
2025 addition: Gemini AI auto-generates text for CSLs in Play Console

Promotional Content (LiveOps)

Type	Description	Duration
Offers	Discounts, free items, bundles	Up to 28 days
Events	Time-limited in-app events	Must have time limit
Major Update	Significant new features	Max 1 week
Crossover (games)	Cross-game/IP collaboration	Varies

Submit 4+ days before start (standard review)
Submit 14+ days before for featuring requests
Impact: "Over twice as many explore acquisitions during featuring" (official Google)

Android Vitals — Ranking Thresholds

Apps exceeding these thresholds get reduced visibility in search and recommendations.

Metric	Overall Threshold	Per-Device Threshold
User-Perceived Crash Rate	1.09%	8%
User-Perceived ANR Rate	0.47%	8%
Excessive Partial Wake Locks	5%	N/A

Consequences: Reduced search visibility, warning labels on listing, quality alerts to users before install. Recovery: Google checks daily using 28-day rolling average.

Search Ranking — Official Factors

Google confirms these affect ranking:

Metadata relevance — Title carries most weight. NLP scans title + short desc + full desc.
App quality — Android Vitals (crash/ANR rates)
Ratings and reviews — Star rating + review text. 85% of featured apps have 4.0+
Install volume and velocity — Total installs + daily/weekly frequency
Engagement and retention — Session frequency, duration, retention rates
Update frequency — Regular updates signal active maintenance
Localization — Regional keyword/visual adaptation. 59% of US apps localize titles.

Sources: support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/4448378, support.google.com/googleplay/android-developer/answer/9898842, developer.android.com/topic/performance/vitals

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